The Washington Blade featured a piece this week Entitled "The Heat of the Battle: A Closer Look at Key Players in the DC Marriage Fight".
On the surface what stands out about this piece and what the LGBT community and key organizers should be concerned with, is where are the Women. On both sides of the issue men are dominating and leading the discussion. As the campaign organizing moves forward there has to be an intentional effort made to bring everyone to the table. For if this campaign is indeed about equality for all, not just some, then we must have all voices and perspectives represented.
In February The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club launched a series entitled "Women in Conversation", with the goal of facilitating a conversation among LGBT women about the importance of their presence in politics and civic engagement.
This initiative has been lead by Paquita Wiggins, Stein Club member and up and coming organizer. Paquita is herself a lesbian woman of color who identifies as having been inspired to action by Barack Obama and his call to service.
Paquita, along with Stein Club Vice President and long time LGBT activist Sheila Alexander-Reid, are making it very clear that Women must be an integral part of this movement.
The piece in this weeks Blade may honestly highlight the current face of the movement, but we should use this as a rallying cry to make sure that the face of the movement expands and grows to include all aspects of our community.
Let's Get to Work!
On the surface what stands out about this piece and what the LGBT community and key organizers should be concerned with, is where are the Women. On both sides of the issue men are dominating and leading the discussion. As the campaign organizing moves forward there has to be an intentional effort made to bring everyone to the table. For if this campaign is indeed about equality for all, not just some, then we must have all voices and perspectives represented.
In February The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club launched a series entitled "Women in Conversation", with the goal of facilitating a conversation among LGBT women about the importance of their presence in politics and civic engagement.
This initiative has been lead by Paquita Wiggins, Stein Club member and up and coming organizer. Paquita is herself a lesbian woman of color who identifies as having been inspired to action by Barack Obama and his call to service.
Paquita, along with Stein Club Vice President and long time LGBT activist Sheila Alexander-Reid, are making it very clear that Women must be an integral part of this movement.
The piece in this weeks Blade may honestly highlight the current face of the movement, but we should use this as a rallying cry to make sure that the face of the movement expands and grows to include all aspects of our community.
Let's Get to Work!
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